Product and coverage review and recommendation

ABSTRACT

Financial security and coverage may be reviewed at a comprehensive level by evaluating an ownership status of an entity relative to multiple types of financial products. Based on results of the review, recommendations for one or more financial products may be provided. Additionally or alternatively, the recommendations and products may be ranked or prioritized. According to another aspect, the review of the entity&#39;s financial security and coverage may be represented graphically. For example, types of financial products may be represented by icons (e.g., pictograms) with various visual attributes (e.g., color, transparency, pattern, size, etc.) indicating the entity&#39;s ownership status. Potential gaps in the entity&#39;s financial coverage may be represented with a specified visual element such as a warning symbol or the like. The graphical depiction may allow an entity to better appreciate the spectrum of available financial product types and potential risks in the entity&#39;s current financial coverage profile.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure relate to reviewing an individual or entity'sproduct coverage. In particular, aspects are directed to providing asummary of an individual or entity's product coverage and generatingrecommendations, when appropriate.

BACKGROUND

Financial security is a universally shared goal. People seek financialsecurity in a variety of ways including purchasing insurance, savingmoney for retirement, saving money for children's education and thelike. However, individuals and other entities might not be aware of allof the various financial coverage products (e.g., insurance products,roadside assistance, etc.) available to them or facets of life that maybe impacted by financial concerns. Additionally, the individuals orentities might also be unaware as to the relative importance of variousfinancial protections.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present invention and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment and computing systems that maybe used to implement aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example operating environment according to one ormore aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example method for reviewing anentity's financial coverage and generating recommendations relatingthereto according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example e-mail message that may be generated andsent to an individual or entity for initiating a financial coveragereview according to one or more aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example questionnaire topic flow for obtaininginformation about an entity's current financial products according toone or more aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example decision matrix for generatingrecommendations based on an entity's financial coverage profileaccording to one or more aspects described herein.

FIG. 7A illustrates an example graphical display providing a summary ofan entity's financial coverage profile and one or more recommendationsaccording to one or more aspects described herein.

FIGS. 7B-7E illustrate examples of other contact and recommendationinterfaces that may be displayed according to one or more aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example recommendations interface according to oneor more aspects described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example contact window according to one or moreaspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and inwhich is shown by way of illustration, various embodiments of thedisclosure that may be practiced. It is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized.

One or more aspects described herein provide individuals and otherentities with a financial summary and overview to help identifypotential gaps in financial protection and/or opportunities fordiscounts. Systems, apparatuses, methods and computer-readable mediadescribed herein offer the user a comprehensive overview of theircurrent financial coverage profile along with one or morerecommendations for improving their financial security. Therecommendations may be specific to the reviewed individual or entity andmay be ranked to help the reviewed party prioritize their actions andfinancial security plans (e.g., determining which financial product topurchase first).

In one or more arrangements, a financial product and coverage overviewmay be provided using graphical icons and other visual elements. Thearrangement and visual characteristics of the graphical elements in theinterface may provide significance to the various displayed products andinformation. For example, different colors may indicate differentstatuses while different regions of the interface may be dedicated toproducts of different levels of importance or significance. The visualdisplays may be customized (e.g., personalized) for each individual orentity for which financial coverage is reviewed.

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent fromthe additional description provided herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a product review andrecommendation system 101 (e.g., an insurance coverage review andrecommendation server) in communication system 100 that may be usedaccording to one or more illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. Theproduct review and recommendation system 101 may have a processor 103for controlling overall operation of the product review andrecommendation system 101 and its associated components, including RAM105, ROM 107, input/output module 109, and memory 115.

Input/Output (I/O) 109 may include a microphone, keypad, touch screen,and/or stylus through which a user of product review and recommendationsystem 101 may provide input, and may also include one or more of aspeaker for providing audio output and a video display device forproviding textual, audiovisual and/or graphical output. Software may bestored within memory 115 and/or storage to provide instructions toprocessor 103 for enabling system 101 to perform various functions. Forexample, memory 115 may store software used by the device 101, such asan operating system 117, application programs 119, and an associatedinternal database 121. Processor 103 and its associated components mayallow product review and recommendation system 101 to execute a seriesof computer-readable instructions to generate a payment factor schedulefor an insurance product and to determine a payment amount based on thediffering payment factors in the schedule.

The product review and recommendation system 101 may operate in anetworked environment supporting connections to one or more remotecomputers, such as terminals 141 and 151. The terminals 141 and 151 maybe personal computers or servers that include many or all of theelements described above relative to product review and recommendationsystem 101. The network connections depicted in FIG. 1 include a localarea network (LAN) 125 and a wide area network (WAN) 129, but may alsoinclude other networks. When used in a LAN networking environment, theproduct review and recommendation system 101 is connected to the LAN 125through a network interface or adapter 123. When used in a WANnetworking environment, the product review and recommendation system 101may include a modem 127 or other means for establishing communicationsover the WAN 129, such as network 131 (e.g., the Internet). It will beappreciated that the network connections shown are illustrative andother means of establishing a communications link between the computersmay be used. The existence of any of various well-known protocols suchas TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like is presumed.

Additionally, an application program 119 used by the product review andrecommendation system 101 according to an illustrative embodiment of thedisclosure may include computer executable instructions for invokingfunctionality related to reviewing products purchased by a customer,identifying unpurchased products (e.g., gaps in insurance coverage) andproviding recommendations for products or actions.

Referring to FIG. 2, an example of a suitable operating environment inwhich various aspects of the disclosure may be implemented is shown inthe schematic diagram. The computing system 200 is illustrated in oneexample of a suitable operating environment and is not intended tosuggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of thecomputing system 200. Computing system 200 may also include mobileterminals or phones such as 241 and 25, laptops such as laptop 261and/or tablet computers such as tablet 271 for use in communication withproduct review and recommendation system 101 through network 231.

The computing system 200 may also be comprised of one or more databases214, 216 coupled to a product review and recommendation system 101. Thecommunication between the databases 214, 216 and the product review andrecommendation system 101 may be through wired or wireless communicationnetworks (depicted by network cloud 231). The product review andrecommendation system 101 and other devices (e.g., databases 214, 216)may be connected to one or more of the networks via twisted pair wires,coaxial cable, fiber optics, satellite signals, radio waves or othermedia. The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawingsshould be broadly interpreted to include not only systems in whichremote databases are coupled together via one or more communicationpaths, but also stand-alone devices that may be coupled, from time totime, to such systems that have storage capability. Consequently, theterm “network” includes not only a “physical network” but also a“content network,” which is comprised of the data—attributable to asingle entity—which resides across all physical networks.

The plurality of databases 214, 216 may include information belonging toor maintained by an insurance provider/company, government entity,and/or third-party entity. For privacy protection reasons, access to theinformation in these databases 214, 216 may be restricted to onlyauthorized computing devices and/or users and for only permissiblepurposes. For example, a database 214 may comprise a computer internalto an insurance company and may store customer policy information. Thestored policy information about a customer may include, but is notlimited to, the customer's relevant coverage limits/deductibles withinsurance carriers, the customer's address information and otherpersonal information, and any other information apparent to one skilledin the art.

In another example, database 214 may also store predefined businessrules and other information to enable the methods, systems andapplications disclosed herein. For example, the database 214 may storehistorical policy data (e.g., insurance products purchased, renewed, notrenewed, coverage levels, changes in coverage levels, etc.) or otherapplicable data archived by the insurance company. This data may beused, among other things, to optimize the business rules, to evaluateproduct needs and gaps and/or recommend and prioritize products,coverages and/or actions as used in the method and systems disclosedherein.

System 200 may further include one or more other databases such asdatabase 216 storing the same or different types of information. Forexample, database 216 may correspond to an external database of a thirdparty (e.g., another insurance provider, a government database, privateor public data warehouses, etc.). Either database 214 or database 216,or both, may store a variety of other types of information includingdemographic data, personal contact information, product information ofcompetitors or other companies and the like.

The disclosure is operational with numerous other general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations.Examples of well known computing systems, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use with the disclosure include,but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-heldor laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, and distributed computingenvironments that include any of the above systems or devices, and thelike.

One or more aspects of the disclosure may be embodied in computer-usableor readable data and/or computer-executable instructions, such as in oneor more program modules, executed by one or more computers or otherdevices as described herein. Generally, program modules includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. thatperform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data typeswhen executed by a processor in a computer or other device. The modulesmay be written in a source code programming language that issubsequently compiled for execution, or may be written in a scriptinglanguage such as (but not limited to) HTML or XML. The computerexecutable instructions may be stored on a computer readable medium suchas a hard disk, optical disk, removable storage media, solid statememory, RAM, etc. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, thefunctionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed asdesired in various embodiments. In addition, the functionality may beembodied in whole or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents such asintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and thelike. Particular data structures may be used to more effectivelyimplement one or more aspects of the disclosure, and such datastructures are contemplated within the scope of computer executableinstructions and computer-usable data described herein.

A product review and recommendation system such as system 101 of FIGS. 1and 2 may be configured to obtain existing insurance coverageinformation for an individual or entity (e.g., family, company,organizations, etc.), identify potential gaps in the insurance coverageof the individual entity, recommend products or actions to address thosegaps and prioritize those actions or products. Accordingly, system 101may provide a comprehensive overview and review of an individual orentity's existing insurance coverage and potential insurance needs. Forexample, if an individual owns auto insurance and home owner's insurancebut not life insurance, the system 101 may recommend adding lifeinsurance and/or flood insurance. The system 101 may also prioritize therecommended products and actions in the event the individual is onlyable to add fewer than all of the recommended products or to take fewerthan all recommended actions. The recommendations and review are notlimited to insurance products and may include savings, retirement funds,identity theft protection, roadside assistance, education savings and/orother products related to financial security and safety. Thecomprehensive overview allows the individual or entity to betterunderstand and appreciate the available financial products and theindividual's or entity's level or sufficiency of coverage in view ofthose products.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process by which a user's financialcoverage may be reviewed and recommendations provided. In step 300, acoverage review system such as product review and recommendation system101 (FIG. 1) may identify one or more individuals for which a financialcoverage review is to be initiated. Financial coverage may includesavings, retirement, insurance, roadside assistance and the like. Theidentification of individuals or entities may be based on an amount oftime since a last review, a type of coverage or financial product thatis missing from the individual or entity's portfolio, the individual orentity's lifestyle or line of work/business, whether the individual orentity is a current customer of at least one, two, five, ten, etc. of acompany's financial products, whether the customer has recently (e.g.,within a specified time frame) contacted the company or an agent of thecompany or purchased a new financial product and the like. In otherexamples, the identification of individual or entities may be based onwhether the individual or entity would benefit from savings by switchingto a product provided by the reviewing company, by adding or purchasinga product, and the like. In some arrangements, the system may initiatethe review for all current customers on a predefined schedule (e.g.,every year, every 6 months, every month, every 3 months, every 2 years,etc.).

Upon identifying individuals and/or entities for which a financialcoverage review is to be conducted, the system may subsequently generateand provide a message to each of the identified entities in step 305.The message may include an electronic message such as an e-mail, a textmessage, a multimedia message and the like and/or a physical messagesuch as a letter sent through postal mail, a voice message and the like.In one or more arrangements, the message may include a link to aquestionnaire site where the entity is invited to complete questionsregarding their existing financial coverages. Alternatively oradditionally, the financial coverage questionnaire may be included in anapplication or may be in hardcopy form (e.g., in a letter). In yetanother or additional arrangement, the entity to be reviewed may becalled by a telephone or other voice-based survey system. In yet anotherexample the message may correspond to an electronic link on a website orother network page. In a particular example, the user may be invited toperform a review through a message or an interactive option (e.g., alink) in a My Account page of the reviewing company's website. The usermay be required to login to the reviewing company's website in order toview and interact with such options and messages. In some arrangements,access or invitations to the review/questionnaire may be providedthrough multiple channels simultaneously or in some sequence. Forexample, an individual or entity may be able to access a questionnairethrough an email invitation or through the individuals' account page onthe company's website.

Prior to, in conjunction with or after sending the message, the systemmay further generate, in step 310, the financial coverage questionnaireor survey to be completed by the recipient entity. In one example,generating the questionnaire may include querying one or more databasesto identify current coverages of the entity. Accordingly, thequestionnaire may be specific to and customized for the particularentity by automatically pre-populating known or identified coverages forconfirmation. The questionnaire may include a request for the entity tocorrect any errors in the pre-populated coverages. Generating thequestionnaire may further include adding identifying information of theindividual or entity for which the review is being undertaken. In somearrangements, the questionnaire may be generated on-demand and/or inreal-time in response to the entity activating the questionnaireapplication or navigating to the questionnaire link provided in themessage. For example, if an entity attempts to navigate to a websitehosting the questionnaire, the system may receive and/or otherwisedetect a request to access the questionnaire.

In step 315, the system may receive responses to the questionnaire. Forexample, responses may be sent electronically from the website (e.g.,page-by-page, question-by-question, or as a whole after completion ofthe entire questionnaire) or from an application through which thequestionnaire was completed. In another example, responses may bescanned in or manually entered from a physical questionnaire completedby the entity. In step 320, the system may determine one or morerecommendations for the entity by comparing the received set ofresponses with one or more product and/or action recommendation rules.In one example, the product and/or action recommendation rules mayprescribe products or actions based on the types and level of financialcoverages already owned by the entity and type of financial coveragesnot yet owned by the entity. Such rules are described in further detailbelow.

In some configurations, the system may detect or otherwise determine astatus of the questionnaire completion. For example, the system maydetect whether questions remain unanswered from a website questionnaire.In another example, the downloadable or local application executing onthe entity's computing device may send an electronic status message tothe review and recommendation system. The status message may indicate acurrent progress (e.g., 10 of 25 questions answered), identification ofquestions answered, identification of questions not answered, an amountof time elapsed since the entity began answering questions or activatedthe application and the like.

In step 325, the system may subsequently prioritize the one or morerecommendations based on prioritization rules. The prioritization rulesmay include specifying that life insurance is a higher priority thanrental insurance or specifying that roadside assistance coverage is ahigher priority than increasing savings. Alternatively or additionally,priorities may change depending on the types and/or levels of coveragesthat the entity owns or does not own. For example, if an entity ownsauto insurance and home owner's insurance, but both are with anotherprovider, then an auto insurance product provided by the reviewingcompany may be recommended with a higher priority. If, on the otherhand, the entity owns auto insurance (still through another provider)but no home owner's insurance, then home owner's insurance may berecommended with higher priority. Further description regardingrecommendations and recommendation prioritizations is provided below.

According to one or more aspects, the recommendation and prioritizationrules may be selected based on one or more attributes of the entity. Forexample, different recommendation and prioritization rules may applydepending on an age of the entity or a gender of the individual. Inanother example, different rules may be used based on a geographiclocation in which the entity resides or works. Combinations ofattributes may also be used to select an appropriate set ofrecommendation and prioritization rules.

In step 330, the system may generate a displayable interface including asummary of the entity's financial coverages and the one or morerecommendations for improving the entity's financial coverage profile.In one example, financial products and coverages provided by a firstcompany (e.g., the company providing the review) may be displayed in afirst color while financial products or coverages currently provided bya second company (e.g., other than the review company) may be displayedin a second color. Financial products and/or coverages not purchased bythe entity may be displayed in a third color. In addition to or as analternative to differing colors, the financial products and/or coveragesmay differ in other visual attributes such as patterns, size, shape,transparency, text style/size, color gradients and the like. In aparticular example, the system may retrieve or generate an icon for eachof the financial products and/or coverages that are available orrelevant to an entity (e.g., if an individual does not have a boat, boatinsurance might not be retrieved or displayed). The icon for a financialproduct or coverage may exist in a database, for example, in multipledifferent colors or visual appearances. Accordingly, the appropriateicon (e.g., visual appearance) may be selected based on variousattributes of the financial product or coverage such as the providerand/or whether the entity owns that type of financial product asdescribed above. Other types of information may also be included in thedisplayable interface including a list of the determinedrecommendations.

According to some arrangements, the user interface and review summarymight only be generated upon completion of the questionnaire. Thus, thesystem may save an entity's progress in completing the questionnaire ifthe entity leaves the questionnaire prior to completion and/or requestssaving their progress. If an entity has started, but has not finished,the questionnaire, a reminder may be automatically generated and sent bythe system.

In step 335, the system may further advertise, market or otherwisepublicize various products of the reviewing company. These products maycorrespond to the gaps in coverage identified through the review. Forexample, if an individual does not have auto insurance or has autoinsurance through another company, the system may advertise (e.g., sende-mails, display information on the review site, ask an agent to provideadditional information) that particular product. A gap, in somearrangements, may correspond to an individual or entity not having aparticular financial product, not having a particular financial productthrough a specific company and/or a combination thereof. Identifyinggaps or recommendations are further described herein.

Additionally, the system may, in step 340, transmit a message to anagent to indicate that the individual has completed the questionnaire.The message may include a link to the summary so that the agent mayindependently review the information. The message may further provideinstructions and information for contacting the reviewed entity. Forexample, the company may instruct the agent to contact the entity withinthe next 2 weeks and provide an e-mail address and a telephone number.In another example, the message may include talking points or a scriptfor discussing one or more financial products with the entity. In aparticular instance, the talking points or script may be specific toeach type of product. In some instances, the message might only begenerated and sent to an agent if there is an opportunity for thereviewed entity to receive a discount or if some other predefinedcondition is satisfied. Examples of predefined conditions may includethe existence of at least one gap in the individual's coverage profile,one or more particular types of coverages lacking in the individual'scoverage profile, and an amount of time the individual spent reviewingthe summary. Alternatively, the message might always be generated andsent to an agent.

In some arrangements, the system may also provide access to the reviewthrough an agent's desktop in step 345. In a particular example, anagent may execute an application configured to interface with the reviewsystem or another system of the reviewing company. Accordingly, when areview becomes available, the agent may receive access capabilitiesthrough the application to review and update the summary (including gapsand recommendations) and contact the individual or entity as needed.

The system may also record or store an agent's discussion with thereviewed individual or entity in step 350. In one example, the agent mayenter notes or audibly and/or visually record his or her discussion. Thediscussion notes, audio and/or video may then be received by the systemfor storage and future access/retrieval and review. In a particularexample, the agent may be required to complete a questionnaire after adiscussion with the reviewed individual or entity. Notes of the agent'sdiscussion may then be generated based on the agent's responses to thequestionnaire. Additionally, in step 355, upon becoming aware of a newproduct purchase by the individual, the system may automatically updatethe individual's coverage summary. The system may also conduct automaticreviews or request updated information for reviewed individuals orentities in step 360. The system may revisit reviews every year, everymonth, every 3 months or based on some other schedule (periodic oraperiodic).

The above process of FIG. 3 provides individuals and entities with aconsistent and measurable protection review process. Thus, individualsand entities may be assured that the reviewing company is monitoringtheir financial coverage and the sufficiency thereof.

Messages to an entity to initiate a review (e.g., the process of FIG. 3)of the entity's financial coverages and products may take a variety offorms. FIG. 4 illustrates an example e-mail message that may be sent toan individual, inviting them to begin a review of their financialcoverage status. The message 401 may include multiple links 403 a and403 b for navigating the entity to the questionnaire site. The message401 may further identify the entity's agent along with the agent'scontact information in area 405. In addition or alternatively to linksto the questionnaire site, the message 401 may include an applicationattachment (not shown) allowing the entity to locally execute aquestionnaire. The data received through the application, once completedor at specified times or points in the questionnaire, may be transmittedto the reviewing company's system for storage and/or analysis. In somearrangements, the questionnaire may be embedded in the electronicmessage. The entity may thus complete the questionnaire through theelectronic message or an application extension thereof. Furthermore,reminders may be sent if the entity has not begun completing thequestionnaire. For example, if an entity has not downloaded theapplication or navigated to the specified link, the system may detectthat the entity has not viewed or initiated completion of thequestionnaire.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example questionnaire topic flow that may beemployed for a coverage review. For example, flow 501 may begin withquestions about automobiles used by the entity. For example, autoquestions may include whether the entity owns or leases a vehicle, anumber of vehicles owned or leased, whether each vehicle is insured andwhether the entity owns or has purchased roadside assistance coverage.Next, the entity may be directed to questions about property andproperty insurance including whether the entity owns or rents propertyand the type of property owned or rented, whether the property isinsured (e.g., homeowner's, flood, hurricane, etc.) and the like. Theflow 501 may also include questions including other properties (e.g.,secondary residences or vacation homes). The entity may next be asked tocomplete information about recreational vehicles including types,number, ownership/rental and insurance coverage.

Flow 501 may subsequently include questions relating to personalprotection including personal umbrella protection, additional valuablescoverage, life insurance and identity protection. Financial questionsmay relate to the existence/sufficiency of retirement plans/funds,college savings, and regular savings. In one or more arrangements, somequestions might not be posed depending on answers to previous questions.For example, if an individual indicates that they do not have anychildren, then a question about college savings may be omitted. In otherinstances, the question may still be included. In another example, if anentity indicates he or she does not own any recreational vehicles, allof the recreational vehicle questions may be skipped or otherwiseomitted from the questionnaire. The flow 501 may further includequestions relating to whether the entity owns a business and if so,whether the business is adequately insured. The series of questions maythen end with a request for household information including number ofadults in household, gender of one or more of the adults, number ofchildren in household, age and gender of one or more of the children andthe like. For each of the above financial topics, questions relating toinsurance or financial coverage may include optional responses thatidentify whether an individual's existing policy is provided by aparticular provider (e.g., the reviewing provider) or another provider.In some cases, the individual may be asked to identify the providerspecifically. Additionally or alternatively, questions may have apre-populated answer if data was automatically retrieved (e.g., from theprovider's database). The individual may have the ability to modify thepre-populated answers as needed or desired. If an answer has beenpre-populated, the questionnaire may, in some arrangements, provide anindication of the pre-population (e.g., an icon, the pre-populatedanswer displayed in another color, style or font, etc.). The abovelisting of topics may be organized in different sequences and mayinclude additional or alternative questionnaire topics.

Once an individual or other entity has completed the questionnaire,recommendations may be generated and prioritized. Recommended productsand/or actions may be defined based on recommendation rules that specifyrecommendations for particular combinations of existing or non-existingfinancial coverages. FIG. 6 illustrates an example recommendation matrixdefining the recommended products based on the responding entity'sfinancial coverage profile and defines an order or priority in which anentity's financial profile is to be evaluated. For example, in matrix601, a priority of combinations of financial product coverage/ownershipstatuses is specified along with a resulting recommendation. Theownership/coverage statuses of each product in matrix 601 arerepresented by colors. In the illustrative arrangement, blue indicatesthat the financial product is owned by the entity through a particularprovider (e.g., the reviewing company) while green indicates that thefinancial product is owned by the entity through another provider. Whiteindicates that the entity does not own the financial product.

In one particular example of FIG. 6, the highest priority specified inmatrix 601 corresponds to a combination of an entity having an autoinsurance policy through the reviewing provider and either not havinghomeowner's, condo or renter's insurance or having such insurancethrough another provider. Matrix 601 further defines the resultingrecommendation as homeowner's insurance. Accordingly, if the entity'sprofile matches the conditions of row/priority 1, a homeowner'sinsurance recommendation would have the highest priority, regardless ofthe entity's profile also matching any of the other conditions in matrix601. In another example, if the entity's coverage profile does not matchthe conditions of row/priority 1, but matches the conditions ofrow/priority 2, then auto insurance would be designated with the highestrecommendation priority. Accordingly, the review and recommendationsystem may compare an entity's coverage profile to each row in matrix601 to identify appropriate recommendations and to construct aprioritized recommendation list.

In the example matrix 601, AP may indicate additional products for whichthe individual or entity does not appear to have a need. For example, anindividual may not own or rent a home (e.g., living with parents), inwhich case the individual might not need homeowners or rentersinsurance. In another example, an individual might not own anautomobile, thus rendering auto insurance likely unnecessary. Row 4, forinstance, indicates that if an individual has auto insurance throughanother company or does not have auto insurance. Row 4 further indicatesthat the individual does not have home, condo or renters insurance dueto an indicated lack of need for such products. As such, the action itemfor Row 4 may be to recommend auto insurance through the reviewingcompany rather than to recommend home, condo or renters insurance inaddition to or instead of auto insurance.

For some products or coverages, such as those defined in rows/priorities6-20, the system may first evaluate those products or coverages for lackof coverage in the specified order. Subsequently, those same products orcoverages may be evaluated again for coverage with another provider. Therecommendations resulting from the second pass (e.g., existing coveragewith other provider) may be prioritized lower than recommendationsresulting from the first pass (e.g., lack of coverage). In one example,if an individual does not own or has not purchased flood insurance, butowns or has purchased motorcycle insurance through another provider, theresulting recommendations may be prioritized such that flood insuranceis ranked higher than motorcycle insurance. The use of recommendationrules and prioritizations allows for an individual or other entity tobetter appreciate the relative importance of various financial productsas it relates to specifically to them. The recommendations are alsocustomized so that unnecessary or irrelevant financial products are notprovided to an individual or entity. The priorities may correspond to alevel of perceived risk to the entity, where a more highly recommendedproduct indicates a greater financial risk to the entity does not ownthe product.

Matrix 601 may have fewer, more or different numbers of conditions foreach priority or row. Additionally or alternatively, matrix 601 mayinclude additional priorities or products as needed. Furthermore,different recommendations and condition combinations may be used asdesired, needed or preferred. In one or more arrangements, matrix 601may further include conditions relating to the characteristics of theindividual or entity. For example, recommendations and recommendationpriorities may be defined based on an individual's geographic location,age, gender, number and age of children, marital status and the like.These user or individual characteristics may be used in combination withor independently of the individual's financial coverages to specify therecommendations and priorities thereof.

In addition to recommendations, the recommendation and review system mayfurther provide an individual or entity with a comprehensive summary oftheir current financial coverages and potential gaps in coverage. FIG.7A illustrates an example user interface in which an individual'sfinancial coverage profile is visually represented. In interface 700,each available financial product or coverage is represented by one ofgraphical icons 701. For example, homeowner's insurance is representedby a house icon 701 a while auto insurance is represented by a car icon701 b. In another example, retirement may be represented by a piggy bankicon 701 c. In still other examples, piggy bank icon 701 c may representsavings. The icons (product representations) may be arranged in acircular and three-dimensional arrangement as shown in interface 700.This may allow an individual to view all of the various availablefinancial products simultaneously. Various other arrangements, shapesand views may be defined or selected based on preferences of the user,system settings, viewability, number of products to be displayed and thelike.

Additionally or alternatively, a representative image 703 of theindividual or entity being reviewed may be displayed in association withthe various icons 701. The representative image 703 provides theindividual or entity with a sense of connection to the summary presentedin interface 700 which may help reinforce the importance of the variousfinancial coverages that have and have not been purchased. In oneexample, the representative image 703 may include a number of peoplecorresponding to a number of people in a household. The images of thepeople may further indicate the various ages and genders of thehousehold members to better represent the reviewed household. In aparticular example, the image 703 may include a photograph of theindividual, family, or other entity.

Each of icons 701 representing a financial product may be displayed withparticular visual characteristics depending on an ownership status ofthe entity relative to the corresponding financial product. For example,the icons 701 may be displayed differently depending on whether thereviewed individual or entity owns the financial product and whether thefinancial product is owned through a particular provider or from otherproviders. In a particular example, if a product is owned by theindividual through a particular provider (e.g., the reviewing company),the corresponding icon may be displayed in a first color such as blue.If a product is owned by the individual but through another provider(e.g., other than the reviewing company), the corresponding icon may bedisplayed in a second color such as green. If the individual does notown the product, the corresponding icon may be displayed in a thirdcolor such as white. In some arrangements, other visual characteristicsmay be added or changed for each category of product. For example, anexclamation point with a yellow background may be added to iconscorresponding to products that are not owned by the individual. Othervisual characteristics (other than or in addition to color) may be usedto identify various attributes of the corresponding products. Bymodifying and particularizing visual attributes of the iconsrepresenting the financial products, an individual or entity may morereadily determine an overall health of their financial coverage profileand identify potential gaps.

According to some aspects, some financial products, such as thoserepresented by icons 701, may be displayed in a first summary area 707of interface 700 while other financial products, represented by othericons 709 may be displayed in a second summary area 711. The divisionbetween the first and second summary areas 707 and 711 and the displayedproducts in each may indicate a further level of importance orsignificance. For example, less important or significant financialproducts may be displayed in second summary area 711. Additionally,icons 709 and associated text may be displayed smaller or in differentcolors to further represent the lower importance or significance. Therecommendation and review system may determine which products to placein the first summary area 707 and which products to place in the secondsummary area 711 based on importance or relevance to the reviewedindividual or entity. For example, if a family does not own amotorcycle, then motorcycle insurance may be displayed in second summaryarea 711. On the other hand, if a family does own a motorcycle, an iconrepresenting motorcycle insurance may be displayed in first summary area707.

Icons 701 displayed in primary summary area 707 may be moved (e.g.,rotated) so that an individual may view each icon and product from apreferred perspective. In some arrangements, the movement of the icons701 also allows icons that might otherwise be obscured (e.g., hidden ortransparently obscured by image 703) to be more completely viewable(e.g., no longer obscured). Interactions with icons 701 such as hoveringover or selecting the icons 701 may cause additional information aboutthe products to be displayed. For example, specific recommendationsrelating to levels of coverage for a financial product may be displayedin a pop-up window or pop-up information bubble. In another example, theadditional information may include details of a currently owned policy(if owned), the available levels of coverage for that type of product,approximate costs to change the level of coverage or policy, multi-linesavings/discounts for purchasing the product and the like may also bedisplayed. A user may be able to modify coverage hypothetically withinthe additional information window to see how the changes might affecthis or her costs and coverage. By allowing a user to make suchmodifications within a sub-window within interface 700, the user mayview how the potential change would affect his or her coverage profilecomprehensively.

In yet another example, the additional information may include acomparison of a currently owned product (e.g., from another company)with an available product through the reviewing provider. This allowsthe system to notify an individual of the advantages to purchasing thefinancial product through the reviewing provider rather than from theirexisting provider. Icons 709 may also be moved in second summary area711. In some arrangements, they may be moved in conjunction withmovement of icons 701. In other arrangements, icons 709 may be movedindependently of movement of icons 701.

In some arrangements, the age of a potential gap (e.g., a type ofproduct not owned by the reviewed entity) may be tracked by the reviewand recommendation system. Accordingly, upon select or otherwiseinteracting with an icon corresponding to a not-owned product, the ageof the gap may be displayed. Alternatively or additionally, thecorresponding icon may change color depending on the age of the gap(e.g., how long the entity has been without that type of insuranceproduct). In one particular example, an icon may gradually change fromwhite to black in grayscale, where black represents an age greater thana specified upper threshold and white represents an age less than aspecified lower threshold.

Interface 700 further includes a contact information and recommendationarea 715. In area 715, the interface may display a recommendation option713, selection of which allows a user to view the recommended productsand/or actions. The recommendations may be pre-generated (e.g., aftercompletion of the questionnaire) or on-the-fly in response to theselection of option 713.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example recommendation page that may be generatedand/or presented upon selection of an option such as option 713 of FIG.7A. The recommendation page 800 may include a list of available productsalong with a short description for each. Each product description mayfurther include a link to a more detailed product page where a user mayfurther purchase the available product.

Referring again to FIG. 7A, contact and recommendation area 715 ofinterface 700 may further provide an option 705 to contact an agent todiscuss the individual's coverage review. Thus, if an individual isconsidering filling gaps in their financial coverage profile orswitching from another existing provider, the agent information isreadily available. This may provide the agent and the company with anopportunity to convince the individual to purchase additional productsor to switch from existing providers. Option 705 may provide theindividual with multiple contact options including e-mail, telephone,text message, multimedia message, voicemail and the like.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example interface in which a pop-up window isgenerated for contacting an agent. For example, upon selecting option705 of FIG. 7A, pop-up window 901 may be generated and displayed. Window901 may include automatically populated fields such as a subject and arecipient address. These fields may also be revised as desired by theindividual. Additionally, window 901 may include a message field 903,thereby allowing an individual to customize a message to the agentdetailing needs or questions. Contact option boxes 905 a, 905 b and 905c may be provided to allow the individual to select a most convenientcontact method or methods. The individual may then enter thecorresponding contact information in section 907.

FIGS. 7B-7E illustrate additional or alternative contact andrecommendation displays that may be included in interface 700 of FIG.7A. For example, each of the contact and recommendation displays ofFIGS. 7B-7E may replace contact and recommendation area 715 of FIG. 7A.In each of FIGS. 7B-7E, the display may provide a different manner inwhich to contact the reviewing company (e.g., an insurance provider). Inthe example of FIG. 7B, the individual or entity being reviewed isinvited to contact an agency associated with the reviewing company. InFIG. 7C, on the other hand, the individual or entity is invited to callthe reviewing company at a specified number. The display of FIG. 7C mayalso include an option for the individual or entity to request that arepresentative of the company call him or her. In FIG. 7D, the interfacemay provide option to help the individual or entity find an agent tocontact. The agent may be a third party individual or entity that is aprovider of the reviewing company's financial products. In FIG. 7E, theinterface may provide an option to contact a representative of thecompany associated with the individual or entity and/or their accounts.For example, particular representatives or employees of the company maybe assigned to different individuals or entities or regions in which theindividual or entities reside.

According to one or more arrangements, the system may further provide ahistorical view of an entity's financial coverage profile. For example,the system may generate an animation (e.g., multiple graphical displays)of the entity's financial coverage over time. The entity may be allowedto manually review each one (e.g., selecting a next or arrow command toproceed to the following coverage profile) or the system mayautomatically cycle through the profiles.

Aspects described herein relate to reviewing the existence of financialproducts within an individual's financial product portfolio andproviding recommendations based thereon. In some arrangements andconfigurations, the coverage level for each product may also bereviewed. Recommendations may thus identify products for which coveragelevels may be too high or too low. For example, if an individual with afamily of 3 children currently owns a $50,000 life insurance policy, therecommendation system may suggest increasing the life insurance policyto at least $250,000. In another example, a system may recommendchanging a roadside assistance coverage level from towing within 2 milesto towing within 10 miles upon determining that the individual commutesover 10 miles to get to work. Alternatively or additionally, cost may befactored into the recommendations. For example, if the same financialproduct and level of coverage is available through the reviewing companyfor a lower price, the reviewing company may recommend changingproviders for that financial product.

While the aspects described herein have been discussed with respect tospecific examples including various modes of carrying out the invention,those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerousvariations and permutations of the above described systems andtechniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:generating, by a product review and recommendation system having atleast one computing device including at least one processor, based on apredefined schedule, an invitation to initiate a financial coveragereview for one or more entities, the generating including adding, withinthe invitation, an electronic network link to a questionnaire location;sending the invitation to the one or more entities; detecting navigationto the questionnaire location through the electronic network link by anentity of the one or more entities; in response to detecting navigationto the questionnaire location by the entity, generating a questionnairecustomized to the entity by querying one or more databases to identifyexisting financial coverages of the entity, the questionnaire includingquestions regarding the existing financial coverages of the entity;receiving one or more responses to the questionnaire from the entity;determining a plurality of financial products to recommend to the entitybased on the one or more responses to the questionnaire received fromthe entity; and prioritizing, according to a level of financial risk tothe entity, the determined plurality of financial products, theprioritizing including: assigning a higher priority to a financialproduct of the determined plurality of financial products having agreater level of financial risk to the entity than another financialproduct of the determined plurality of financial products, andevaluating at least one attribute of at least one financial product ofthe plurality of financial products, the at least one attributeincluding one or more of: whether the entity currently owns the at leastone financial product of a same type as the at least one financialproduct and whether the entity currently owns a type of financialproduct corresponding to the at least one financial product through afirst provider associated with the at least one computing device.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining a pluralityof financial products to recommend includes: determining a firstattribute of a first financial product, wherein the first attributeincludes at least one of: whether the entity currently owns a financialproduct of the same type as the first financial product and whether theentity currently owns a first type of financial product corresponding tothe first financial product through the first provider associated withthe at least one computing device; determining a second attribute of asecond financial product, wherein the second attribute includes at leastone of: whether the entity currently owns a financial product of thesame type as the second financial product and whether the entitycurrently owns a second type of financial product corresponding to thefirst financial product through the first provider associated with theat least one computing device; and comparing a combination of the firstattribute and the second attribute to one or more recommendation rules.3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein sending theinvitation further includes generating a letter and causing the letterto be sent through postal mail.
 4. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein sending the invitation includes transmitting anelectronic message including an application for completing thequestionnaire.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising, prior to receiving the one or more responses to thequestionnaire from the entity: retrieving financial product informationcorresponding to the entity from a database, wherein generating thequestionnaire includes pre-populating at least one response in thequestionnaire with the retrieved financial product information.
 6. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising: allowing theentity to modify the at least one pre-populated response in thequestionnaire.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining that the entity has not completed thequestionnaire; and saving a progress of the entity in completing thequestionnaire, wherein saving the progress includes saving at least oneresponse submitted by the entity.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, further comprising: generating a graphical display summarizinga financial coverage profile of the entity, wherein the graphicaldisplay includes a plurality of graphical icons representing a pluralityof types of financial products; and setting at least one characteristicof the plurality of graphical icons depending on an ownership status ofthe entity for each of the plurality of types of financial products. 9.The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the at least onecharacteristic is color.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9,further comprising: adding an image to each of one or more graphicalicons, wherein the one or more graphical icons correspond to one or moretypes of financial products that the entity does not currently own. 11.The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving at least one response to the questionnaire from the entity;and omitting at least one question in the questionnaire based on the atleast one response.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: determining that the entity has completed thequestionnaire; generating a summary of the questionnaire; determiningthat the entity has purchased one of the plurality of financialproducts; and updating the summary of the questionnaire.
 13. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: determiningthat the entity currently owns a first financial product of the type offinancial product, corresponding to the at least one financial product,through a second provider different from the first provider; andrecommending, to the entity, a second financial product of the type offinancial product, corresponding to the at least one financial product,available through the first provider associated with the at least onecomputing device.
 14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,further comprising: determining that the entity has completed thequestionnaire; and determining whether a predefined condition issatisfied for the entity to receive a discount.
 15. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the prioritizing furtherincludes: determining a level of financial risk to the entity for eachfinancial product of the determined plurality of financial products; andranking each product among the determined plurality of financialproducts based on the determined level of financial risk.
 16. One ormore non-transitory computer readable media storing computer readableinstructions that, when executed, cause an apparatus to: generate, basedon a predefined schedule, an invitation to initiate a financial coveragereview to one or more entities, the generating including adding, withinthe invitation, an electronic network link to a questionnaire location;send the invitation to the one or more entities; detect navigation tothe questionnaire location through the electronic network link by anentity of the one or more entities; in response to detecting navigationto the questionnaire location by the entity, generating a questionnairecustomized to the entity by querying one or more databases to identifyexisting financial coverages of the entity, the questionnaire includingquestions regarding the existing financial coverages of the entity;receive one or more responses to the questionnaire from the entity;determine a plurality of financial products to recommend to the entitybased on the one or more responses to the questionnaire received fromthe entity; and prioritize, according to a level of financial risk tothe entity, the determined plurality of financial products, theprioritizing including: assigning a higher priority to a financialproduct of the determined plurality of financial products having agreater level of financial risk to the entity than another financialproduct of the determined plurality of financial products, andevaluating at least one attribute of at least one financial product ofthe plurality of financial products, the at least one attributeincluding one or more of: whether the entity currently owns a financialproduct of the same type as the at least one financial product andwhether the entity currently owns a type of financial productcorresponding to the at least one financial product through a firstprovider.
 17. The one or more computer readable media of claim 16,further comprising instructions for: generating a graphical displaysummarizing a financial coverage profile of the entity, wherein thegraphical display includes a plurality of graphical icons representing aplurality of types of financial products; and setting at least oneattribute of the plurality of graphical icons depending on an ownershipstatus of the entity for each of the plurality of types of financialproducts.
 18. The one or more computer readable media of claim 17,wherein generating the graphical display includes: adding a first set ofone or more graphical icons representing one or more of the plurality oftypes of financial products to a first portion of the graphical display;and adding a second set of one or more graphical icons representing oneor more other types of financial products to a second portion of thegraphical display, wherein the first set of one or more graphical iconsare added to the first portion and the second set of one or moregraphical icons are added to the second portion based on a respectiveimportance of corresponding types of financial products to the entity.19. The one or more computer readable media of claim 16, furthercomprising instructions for: wherein prioritizing the determinedplurality of financial products includes selecting a set ofprioritization rules from a plurality of sets of prioritization rulesbased on at least one attribute of the entity.
 20. An apparatuscomprising: at least one processor; and memory storing instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatusto: generate, based on a predefined schedule, an invitation to initiatea financial coverage review, the generating the invitation includingadding, to the invitation, an electronic network link to a questionnairelocation; send the invitation to the one or more entities; detectnavigation to the questionnaire location through the electronic networklink by an entity of the one or more entities; in response to detectingnavigation to the questionnaire location by the entity, generate aquestionnaire customized to the entity by querying one or more databasesto identify existing financial coverages of the entity, thequestionnaire including questions regarding the existing financialcoverages of the entity; receive one or more responses to thequestionnaire from an entity; determine a plurality of financialproducts to recommend to the entity based on the one or more responsesto the questionnaire received from the entity; and prioritize, accordingto a level of financial risk to the entity, the determined plurality offinancial products, the prioritizing including: assigning a higherpriority to a financial product of the determined plurality of financialproducts having a greater financial risk to the entity than anotherfinancial product of the determined plurality of financial products, andevaluating at least one attribute of at least one financial product ofthe plurality of financial products, the at least one attributeincluding one or more of: whether the entity currently owns a financialproduct of the same type as the at least one financial product andwhether the entity currently owns the financial product of the same typeas the at least one financial product through a provider.